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Today we announce the Nokia Asha 205, our most Social Nokia Asha phone to date. With its QWERTY keypad, it’s made to make messaging and connecting through social networks quick and easy.

The usability of the keyboard is one of the key factors in the success of QWERTY phones, and the Nokia Asha 205 comes with isolated keys and quick-access buttons for superior speed and accuracy. Super-social, the phone even boasts a dedicated button for access to Facebook, for the first time on a Nokia phone.

*The Dual-SIM variant of the Nokia Asha 205 has the same specs, but with a lower standby time – 25 days vs. 37 days.

The Nokia Asha 205 (and the Nokia 206 – also announced today) sees the debut of a brand new sharing technology from Nokia called ‘Slam’. What is it? Let’s say you take a picture, choose ‘Send’ and then ‘Slam’ from the list. This quickly detects the nearest Bluetooth-enabled device and offers that device the file.

The other person can accept and download the picture instantly, without any need to pair the two devices, as you have to with regular Bluetooth sharing. The owner of the other device doesn’t even need to have a Nokia phone or Slam installed. You can also share using all the normal options like social networks and email.

The device has a bold, expressive hardware design, and a colour palette to match. The Nokia Asha 205 comes in cyan, magenta and orange, with stylish two-tone mixes.

Smarter internet for service savings

The Nokia Asha 205 is designed to make smarter use of the Internet, sipping data as it’s asked for, rather than guzzling it down unnecessarily. Notably, the latest version of the Nokia Xpress Browser is preinstalled, which uses cloud-based servers to reduce data volumes by 90 per cent, saving owners money. The browser is optimised for social networks and content discovery, making it quick and easy to make updates or read the content you want.

Owners will also find Nokia Nearby installed. While the phone doesn’t have GPS, it can make use of cell-tower co-ordinates to present a local map and identify nearby points of interest like cafes or landmarks. The app shares the massive database of places used in Nokia Maps, so they’ll never run out of places to go.

King of content

Facebook, Twitter and eBuddy apps are preinstalled to connect with friends and family from the start. There’s also the very popular EA gift pack of 40 free premium games (worth around €75, depending on the market) to download and keep forever.

Of course, owners also have access to the Nokia Store and the 1000s of free and paid games and apps available there.

Hard to beat

The Dual-SIM variant of the Nokia Asha 205 comes with Nokia’s unique Easy Swap technology. This means that you can change one of the SIM cards through a slot on the side, without even switching the phone off. The phone remembers the settings for up to five SIM cards, in case you’re juggling between several possible options for making calls or using the Internet.

Lastly, we can’t finish without pointing out the incredible battery life offered by this phone, with a standby time measured in weeks, not hours, and talk-times that mean you really don’t have to worry about where the next battery top-up is coming from.

The Nokia Asha 205 will be available from Q4 2012. Without any operator subsidies or local taxes, it will cost around $62 USD.

Let us know what you think about the new Nokia Asha 205 in the comments. Also check out today’s other new phone launch, the Nokia 206.